Two-phase linear-motor catapult system



Aug-l5, 1950 v M. F. JONES TWO-PHASE LINEAR-MOTOR CATAPULT-SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 24, 1947 INVENTOR Ma y rz'ceFJoiz e5.

ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1947 T-|-lii ll-rlll Ill/r INVENTOR flazzr'z'cefi'cfanes.

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 15, 1950 UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE V TWO-PHASE LINEAR-MOTOR CATAPULT SYSTEM ,lVIaurice F.' .l ones, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburglnla, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 24, 1947, Serial No. 730,431

3 Claims, (01. 318-135) My invention relatesto linear-motor zelectric catapults, for launching aircraft by means of a shuttle-car which travels. down the landingfield, or flight-deck of an aircraft carrier, pulling the aircraft for an assisted launching- The shuttle-car carries the primary core and thC- DOlYrphase primary windings of a linear motor, the secondary of which consists of aflat squirrelcage core and winding, which extends in a straight line down the landing-field, in the direction of the launching. I, v 1

Heretofore, three-phase power has been utilized, as. broadly described and claimed in aRowers Patent 2,404,984, grantedJulyv 30, 1946, assigned to the Westinghouse ElectriclCorporation. This has entailed two drawbacks which areovercome inmy present invention. In order to terminate the accelerating or launching run of the shuttle-car, it has been necessary to remove the forward-phase-sequence power, and-to apply suitable braking-power, usually reverse-phasesequence power. In a three-phase system as heretofore used, this operation'involved a coasting-period having a duration of about 0.2 second, between the removal of the forward-phase sequence power and-the application of the reverse-phase-sequence power.

feet during this time, thus wasting that much track which is not utilized in either accelerating or decelerating the shuttle-car. particularly important where the catapult is mounted on-shipboard, or where space isat a premium for any reason. v A second disadvantage of the three-phase shuttle-car supply is the necessity for a rather elaborate feeder-system, involving one or more described and claimed in an application of Lee A. Kilgore and myself, Serial- No; 506,198, filed October 14, 1943, patented December 10, 1946, No; 2,412,512. This three-phase feeder-bus sys tem also involved a somewhat complicated collector-rail system, involving numerous jumpers between the two insulated third-rail structures and the corresponding phases of the three feeder-buses which extended along the entire length of the track. T

An object of my present invention is'to provide a two-phase linear-motor catapult-system,

which avoids both of these objectionable features At a speed of 7200 miles per hour, the shuttle-car travels some 60 This saving is of the three-phase system, in a manner which will be subsequently described, and which thus constitutes a noteworthy improvement, notwithstanding the fact that the art of commercial polyphase electricity-distribution has long since standardized on a three-phase system, as being more economical, and better suited for general electrical uses, than the two-phase system.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the systems, combinations, structures and operations hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section across the runway, showing an end view of my twophase shuttle-car,

Fig. 2 is a much simplified diagrammatic view of circuits and apparatus illustrating my twophase electric-catapult system, and Fig. -3 is adetailed transverse sectional view of one of the insulated third-rail structures.

In the formof embodiment of my invention,

whichI-have chosen for illustration, the shuttlecar is shown, at M in Figure 1, as being a long narrow vertically disposed car, operating within a trough 3 extending down the runway of the landing-field 4, somewhat after the manner which is describedand claimed in my application Serial No. 537,514, filed May 26, 1944, patented December 10, 1946, No. 2,412,511. The shuttle-car M is illustrated as a double-motor car, comprising, in effect, two fiat linear-motor cores, disposed back-to-back, these cores being illustrated as being integral with each other, and comprising a single stack of laminations 5. The

, double shuttle-car core 5carried two two-phase 7 the field 4 andwhich has therein a centrally disposed slot I! which extends the entire length of the trackway.

T'Inthe diagrammatic view of Fig. 2, the two two-phase -primary-windings 6' and 6" are shown; for simplicity, as a single winding 6, and

supporting-plates or plows I3, tifliii'li" estate down through the slot II, to support the under ground portions of the shuttlecarv Ma An advantage of the double=moto construction is that the very magneti pulls, between the primary and ,,secgndary coyes V,

5 and 8', and 5 and 8", are opposed to eachother,

so that the car-structure is considerablyielietb'd of mechanical strains clue to these strong magattractive forces. The.car..must. bet-.supe ported...fl ainstt laterat displacementsrelative tothe two stator cores fl. andtfl'f and the Stator.- cores must; be. prevented .from. collapsing, onto the, primarygcolie. 5;; by reason of. the rnagnetic pul oi the latter asgby means ofsa. pluralitytof. lat rallyb aring rollers-1 4;. 1.5.1.15.- amtv .lLdise 1 .9 .8 3 at both; the. top and bottom oftt'he; primary core-structure 5, and bearing on suitable laterals: thru ttrailst fii, 151; E: snail; arri bytt ummoni -structu eStuo on is aisotxnade o: restra n the: shut l ecar a inst; then wsrd ems n n otth anull nitrit towineeca l flnet shown), which is attaehed touthe;.above groun earano s cnsu n e this each, suita le ifl reist ne r ler 1. nrq si ds be rin a a nst the under-surface IQ of the top memben l-fl o f he' unportine truc ure a.-.

n. ccord nce th my v.v primary winding winding, and thesei are: o nected-te er in para le WW1; e ch: oth so. h t shat i a, ,1 i w. ch, @n te te wq t OM 4? tw lls q hoes/12' ndzzziit ht a Qnere 9 per uxr nt+ o l cts2ma s 23 and hi h brazed therwise I hedtt h tsu re tiae t ls ruct a-a pe ie id s.=- -,-t1t u ortin underneath; the respective J secondary, cores 8 th o b sces 0? wh h ar a /e edouble current-collecting shoes 2 copper third-rail: buses 33;; and-t 34;: are, spaced by, a plurality of bottonrspacing-plates .fiuwhichi are-mounted on topzt the supporting-insulators;

i a. two-phase d by. the .i lhe e; twm

28. The two corresponding copper third-rail buses of the other third-rail assembly Z'I'Zare- As shown in Fig. 2, this power-supply is a synchronous generator G, having two completely igsuiatcnshindrywindings 4| and 42 in quadrature phase-relation to each other, said windi'figsf Tf he'generator G is shown as having Q tater-meshes #3 having a direct-current excithiv-ing -thteriii'inals 4!, 4|" and 42', 42",

qne of the phase-windings, namely the winding 4|, is arranged for connecti'tH this catapult feeder-system without phasereversal, as by means. of the two-pole circuitbreaker cm 'rnetutherpmsez-wmt otmne ge'neratozzi's ar'rairgedtfonncbmectionsto pult-'--teederx-'systent int either the. -.fcrwar d; on; rde .vers'e; direction, By-.-mans: .0: t vforlwardjl'and I'm verse two-pole contactors'tmxamlt RC; respec q... t vim; 1..., ml. l .1 The. .circifita-tbaieakem GBQhmmect-s; m; of; terminals tot; the iphaseewmdinidi to azbnliihl eomiect'ion-...45, .wltt'ch igachnhecfidc ta the at i iisulai fiedly maimtecntmrdzsammstw We usually at some centrallyzhdatcdpoiflt him-1&0 titaclcwwl. .likei mamie r the iorwa-rttxm reue'r'se .contactots onal:

phaseewinding -gflzoil thetlbndratvf to Eat. connection .AEtwhiclr. isan'ome'cmdififi JhQ.-.DW!" of insulatedly-mdumted tlfirderailgbmes llft's and 3.4122,. vInt;.cmzlert.tupaqmzidetatnoneinduc iveztwoeiflmle seeder-system. itis empontant: theta rqtumecw cui-tttcgnductor shallisbe.dfispqsqdfisxml082lliin ossiblettc each-paths two-.tu rst fisi mounted phaseec'nndncmza-omhuseste ulated; retumeccnductornimth Torn; 0131mm cou es bu zh lls gfifiattttaesinst:themutemm respective;

/ c e. el heav ns rt a mdttattestsa sme mm" ti impregnated with a liquid Th 2853 a ie-heldj ln ll ..i

h wevn ewmde H rougheithet curl elll v resRe6tivH. 'd;tmi 13 fyjumnersflf:antiwar?! disposed'; attfrequenbgintbrwals along; the smile; en th-.054 thestraekwayt ms: connecting; the:

l amended: v currefitrcolleelteng buses),v 23: and? z the? wo. th i s at. .rettirnecdnduetofs Sit; 3 W and 53", 54". 1;; 1 i mhe tiumpershsueht assthe; jumpeizfiu in! Fig 3, are; cennectedtrto ptheir' t 1 cerrespending; tewrlw ci flcmti l brat-bliss: Such the hus-baz: Hi1} .me mmsntemth my result islach ewedtbyatprevidms aacqmpletely acreage welding or;brazing,,as indicated at 64, Furthermore, even. though the oppositeends of the jumpers 63,, ,63f, ,are connected toone or the otherof: the ground d pp r. us s 1. 3., 23 the jumpers are nevertheless completely covered with insulationyas shown at 65, except atthe extreme grounded end 'where the connection is made to the'groundedbus-bar 234.01 23". Furthermore, this jumpereinsulation 65 is. merged completely, with the return-conductor insulation 55', asshown in Fig. 3. Although the returnconductor bus-bars 532954, 53 and 54" are thus grounded, they must nevertheless becompletely insulated, because they are clamped in contact with thelive, bare phase-conductor buses 33', 34, 33 and 34", respectively. The grounding jumpers 63' and 63", which are connected tothese insulated return-conductor buses, must Fig. 2. The four bus-bar connections 45, I5, 46,

it thus constitute a two-phase four-wire powersupply system. I

In operation, a forward accelerating-run of the shuttle-car M, as in a plane-launching operation, will be initiated by simultaneously closing the circuit-breaker CB and the forward contactor PC. This applies two-phase power from the generator G to the motor-windings M, in the forward phase-sequence, utilizing the insulated current-collector buses 33 and 34' as an extension of the power-terminal 45, and utilizing the return-conductor buses 53 and 54 as an extension of the power-terminal 15, thus connecting the generator phase-winding 4| to one phase of the motor-winding 6. In like manner, the other pair of insulated current-collector buses 33" and 34" are utilized as extensions of the power-terminal 46, and the corresponding pair of return-conductor buses 53" and 54" are utilized as extensions of the power-terminal 16, thus connecting the second generator phasewinding 42 to the other phase of the motorwinding 8, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that the trackway of the catapult extends for a quarter of a mile, more or less, according to the length of the runway on the landing-field, so that power is carried, in general, for a considerable distance, before it is delivered to the shuttle-car M. Practically all of the power which is collected by the groundedrail current-collector shoes 22 and 22" of the car flows promptly into the corresponding grounded return-conductor buses 53', 54, 53 and 54", through the jumpers 63 and 63 which are closest to the car, wherever the car may be located, at any particular instant, along the entire length of the runway. Thus, for the entire distance over which power must be transmitted, from the generator G to the motor or shuttlecar M, all of it, except for a relatively few feet near the shuttle-car M, is delivered over a substantially non-inductive system of feeder-buses, in which the non-inductive characteristic is obtained by insulating the return-conductors 53, 54', 53 and 54", and placing them flat up against the corresponding live conductors 332, 34', 33" and34".

.,It will;,-also, be noted, that this non-inductive characteristic is achieved in a much more simple and; economi cal manner than is necessary in a .three-phasesy-stem, as described and claimed in the previo-usly mentioned application of Lee A. Kilgore and myself. Atthe end of the accelerating or planelaunching run of;the shuttle-car M, it is necessary to quickly bring the shuttle-car to a stop, so as not toiwaste any more. trackage or landing-field space than isabsolutely required in order to stop the car with a. reasonable factor of safety. Here, again,;my two-phase motor-supply system shows .itsadvantage over a three-phase system. My two-phase;;motor-winding 6 has three motortermina1s2l, ;24 ;and 25, (Fig. 2), and this is the same number-of terminals which are needed for aithree-phase motor. In reversing the phase-sequence of my twophase motor M or 6, as shown in Fig. 2, the forward contactor F0 is opened, and when its opening-operation is completed, the reverse-contactor RC is closed, the circuit-breaker CB,,for the other phase, remaining closed all the while. During the fifth of a second, or other time-interval, between the opening of the forward contactor FC and the closing of the reverse-contactor RC, single-phase power is being supplied to the shuttlecar M, and the motor or shuttle-car continues to develop forward torque, as any polyphase induction motor will do, once it has attained a reasonable speed. Hence, during this single-phase energization of the shuttle-car motor M, the shuttle-car is still accelerating, and the acceleratingrun does not terminate until the actual closure of the reverse-contactor RC.

This is in marked contrast to the three-phase shuttle-car system, in which there is no practical way of supplying single-phase energization to the shuttle-car during the manipulation of the forward and reverse contactors for discontinuing the forward accelerating-run and initiating the reverse-power plugging-operation for stopping the shuttle-car. It is an important advantage of my present invention, therefore, that the shuttle-car passes instantly from a condition of forward acceleration to a condition of strong deceleration, without any track-wasting coasting-operation at all.

While I have shown my invention in a single preferred form of embodiment, in connection with a circuit-diagram which is very extremely simplified, to the point of showing only the features which seem to be the most necessary for an understanding of the essential novel features of my invention, I wish it to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular illustrated motor-structure or the particular illustrated control-circuits, other than as may be necessary to obtain some one or all of the benefits of two-phase operation and design. I desire, therefore, that the appended claims shall be accorded the broadest construction consistent with their language.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a trackway-assembly, and a two-phase-motored, self-propelled movable body associated with said trackway-assembly, said trackway-assembly comprising a grounded thirdrail means, and two insulatedly supported thirdrail assemblies, for the respective motor-phases, each insulatedly supported third-rail having a completely insulatedly covered return-conductor secured up against it, each insulatedly covered iefiurn-eohuctor having' a mummy r insulat -(11y covered jumpers, disposed at asuccession of spaced-points along the traekway, forjoining the return-conductor to the grounded third-rail means, and'said movable-body having-currenv collector shoes bearing on saidgrbun'deithird rail means and-0n saidinsumtedly'supported' third-rails, respectively.

= -Z.:In combination, a tmackway-assembl y; a

tWd-p'hase-mobored, self-propelled movable body :19

associated with said tramway-assembly, a-two- 'phas'e system-of current-collector rails associated with. said: trackway-assembly, cooperative currentFcollector shoes associated with said movable "body; a. source of two-phase electrical energy havz I 'ing the two pairsmf phase-terminalsinsulated from eah' 4 other, and switching-meansfer-energizingboth phases 'of said two-phase rail 'system Irbmesaid sourcefora forward runof-themmbk body, said switching-means comprising means I01 "Ihe invenhmedennedm mimm, his

binati'on with a'source o1 two-phase electrician er'gy having the two pa'irs o1: hase-mmmbsulated from ea'ehwther; switching-mu for energi zm sets of immlateely third -rail assemblies, their 2014 uand:

turn-conductors, from said som'ce for a In? run of 'said 1 mdvabl'e body,- said switehing mlnl cemprisi'ng means lot-reversing one of them ot said source, as applied to one ofthe phi-'11! said third rail assemblies,- without interrupt the connection between the other phase-f m seurceand the other phase or i the sembiies e MAURICE F. J

' REEEBENCESv-CITED The fdllowing "references are o f freeqrim" 'fll'e'bf this patent? V UNITED, STATES-PATENTS.

Number Name Daw 390,820 Tesla Oct-.9, 1888 808,944 Porterset a1. s Jan. 2; 1906 McCormick Mar; 10,"19$2 

